ETQW Released, Dated For Steam

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars went on sale in Europe on Friday and on Monday and the US. Clearly RPS has been a little distracted with Team Fortress 2, but there's every reason why we, and you lot too, should be playing ETQW. It's ludicrously good.

Fortunately, should you (like me) be intent on remaining posted at your keyboard 24/7, you'll be able to download the beast on October 5th in Europe and October 9th in the US: Steam is taking pre-orders for ETQW now. Why does it come out in Europe first? I have no idea.

In some ways it's a shame that ETQW's demo level was that particular map. It's one of the more underwhelming designs that Splash Damage have come up with. Just in terms of the palette used, it's rather middle-ground and didn't really sell the game. The mission itself might have been representative of the game mechanics (and therefore good for beta testing) but part of ETQW's appeal is the sheer beauty of its wartorn terrains, and some of the other maps simply have far more intense objectives built into them. The island (pictured) and the beach assault are particularly solid, while the Slipgate map... well, I'm going to post in detail on a couple of my favourites next week.

As fun as I've found Team Fortress 2, I think I'm going to be finding a more satisfying long-term gaming outlet in ETQW. With vehicles, larger maps, and absurdly varied selection of classes, it simply caters for a wider range of possible actions and experiences. It's a harder, bigger, brasher game in all kinds of ways, and yet still pretty accessible, I think. Anyway, perhaps we'll sort out some RPS Steam community games later in October. I'll also be arranging an interview with Splash Damage to chat a bit about the community end of things, and what they've learned from clan gaming in the past.